The Other Side
by Painted With a Palette
Summary: Some things are better left unsaid. That's what Naminé was told. However, after the events the events that transpired at Castle Oblivion, she deliberates on the right course of action.


In the midst of a pale room, its most distinct detail being the large pod standing firmly in the center, stood Naminé. It felt like a day trapped in stillness. Her hands were clasped as she studied the unmoving pod without waver. It had been a long few months of piecing together Sora's memories and it felt like the process was growing ever more sluggish by the day.

Her thoughts trailed to the boy who slept ever so peacefully. When she thought back to what transpired back at Castle Oblivion nearly a year prior, her heart couldn't help but ache. In her desperation to alleviate her loneliness, she succumbed to doing the bidding of the enemy. How could she allow herself to be so weak? The more she thought about it, the more her hands clenched as she pulled them closer to her chest.

Was she truly the witch DiZ insisted she was? It was true that her powers were a mystery, even to herself. Still, deep inside, she hoped that through the act of restoring the memories she left scattered and broken in the first place, that would somehow remedy her moment of self-centeredness. She cursed the weakness in her heart that made her desire to be someone to somebody. To exist.

A heart. She laughed humorlessly at the word.

With a heavy sigh, she returned her focus to the pod, her eyes narrowing the slightest bit. Whatever the case, no matter how she felt, she had to ensure that Sora was safe. She owed it to him. He forgave her even when she misled his heart. Despite her actions, he chose to trust her. When she thought back to the little entry made in Jiminy's Journal, despite the naivete of such a gesture, it was a sweet one that she appreciated.

Thank Naminé.

Though the job seemed thankless, she would see to it that the job would be done. There was only one setback.

And his name was Roxas.

Naminé was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the automated doors and in came the booming footsteps of none other than DiZ himself, his mysterious aura wrapped in the red bandages that concealed his face. He approached the pod with his usual disciplined posture, his arms behind his back and his chest slightly protruded. Naminé always felt uneasy whenever in his vicinity. Even when wordless, his presence was felt.

"Naminé," came his baritone voice. "Status report."

"There isn't much to say, I'm afraid," Naminé said in her soft voice, keeping her head low as she fiddled with her fingers. "I'm still having trouble piecing his memories back together. Without his other half, it seems as if the memories aren't processing at a normal rate. His heart is incomplete, after all..."

"Then it's just as I suspected." DiZ narrowed his eyes before turning his back on the pod and heading towards the exit. "Come, Naminé. There's no use in wallowing away here."

Naminé hesitated, hoping they could stay and find some sort of solution that would accommodate Sora and Roxas both, but she knew deep inside that the likelihood of that was small. She silently followed DiZ through the basement corridors that led to the computer room all the way to the main foyer where she contemplated the situation.

"DiZ," Naminé said.

"Hmm?"

"Wouldn't it be easier if we told Roxas the truth? Maybe if he understood who he really is and where he came from, he would—"

DiZ shook his head as the two of them stopped right before the white room—the room that acted as Naminé's quarters for the time being. "A most futile endeavour, I'd wager. Roxas is a Nobody. His very existence is an anomaly against the laws of nature. How do you understand what isn't meant to be understood? A witch such as yourself should know."

Naminé averted her eyes at the sound of the nickname she had regretfully become more and more accustomed to the more it had been used against her. "Yes..."

"Then do not waste my time with such foolish questions."

Naminé's prior pout turned into a frown. "But it isn't fair to Roxas. I just..." She closed her eyes before reopening them with a fiery resolve. "I don't want to deceive anyone anymore. Roxas deserves to know the truth."

DiZ narrowed his gaze as he thought back to the man who betrayed his trust and sent him down his vengeful path in the first place. "Fair? You talk to me of fairness?" Without warning, he snatched Naminé by the forearm and roughly shoved her into the white room. "I've heard enough! What would a Nobody know about what one deserves when it doesn't deserve to 'be' in the first place?"

His words stung, but Naminé wouldn't give up. "But—"

"You'll do as I say, witch. Those thoughts are best forgotten."

Before Naminé could retort, the door was slammed shut and locked indefinitely. Naminé could only surmise that she would only be allowed out once she was deemed useful again. Downtrodden, she sunk into the familiar loneliness she had become acquainted with. She was surrounded by the many drawings she had sketched over her time being there, some hung on the walls and others scattered across the floor. Naminé made her way over to the long table that stood in the middle and took a seat right before her sketchbook. She looked at the picture she had been drawing before, nearing its completion, and felt a heavy sigh escape her.

It was a picture of the replica of Riku, Sora, and Naminé herself as she stood in the middle of them. She reprimanded herself for fantasizing of a life that was never meant to be and tossed the picture onto the floor.

Before long, she heard the door open yet again and she braced herself in the outcome that DiZ found some use for her with the intention of dragging her back to work, but instead it was a hooded man whose face was concealed in a black coat. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"DiZ giving you a hard time again?" the deep voice said. Despite the voice being so deep and almost sinister-sounding, Naminé couldn't help but hear the true youthful tone hidden underneath.

"Riku?" Naminé said. "How long have you been back?"

"Not long," Riku answered. "But I heard enough."

Naminé slumped her shoulders and returned her gaze to her sketchbook. "Oh."

Riku sighed. "Look, Naminé. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm DiZ's number one fan, but... he's got a point."

Naminé pouted. "You too?"

Riku crossed his arms. "For the record, I don't think you're wrong for wanting Roxas to know the truth. There's a part of me that wants to believe that if he and Sora were to ever just meet, things might go a little smoother. But we can't be too certain. It's hard to say whether or not Roxas would understand."

"Because we're not giving him a chance to understand," Naminé argued. "I don't think... this is what Sora would want either."

Riku was taken aback when she brought up his best friend's name. Even worse, he knew deep down that it was one thing they could wholeheartedly agree on. But just because something might have been the right thing to do, did that mean it was the right course of action to take for the best results?

"You might be right, Naminé," Riku admitted. "But sometimes things aren't that cut and dry. You can't always handle a situation in the most ideal manner. Some things are better left unsaid."

"Is that what you truly believe?"

"What matters the most to me is that Sora wakes up with all of his memories intact," Riku said, sidestepping her question. "Let's make that our primary focus. We can worry about the rest later."

Naminé furrowed her brows in disappointment but allowed her back to rest against her chair. "Understood."

With a hesitating look, Riku shut the door behind him, though he made sure not to lock it like DiZ. Naminé noticed this and appreciated what she perceived as mercy on Riku's behalf. Not that she believed she deserved it.

After all, she was the reason why they were in this mess in the first place. She may have felt like she didn't deserve such generosity, but she did know one thing: she would learn from her own mistakes and she promised herself not to make the same ones twice. This time would be different. She wasn't going to go about this in a deceitful way. This time she would be honest.

But what could she do? She opened her sketchbook and began drawing as her mind pondered through her options. DiZ refused to listen to her. Riku seemed to prioritize Sora before anything, for good reason, she might add. But no matter what, she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't right if she didn't find a way to help Roxas.

When she finished her sketch, she couldn't help but stare at it, her gaze laced with melancholy. It almost seemed symbolic: amid the expanse of the empty canvas, Sora and Roxas stood scribbled hand and hand as one. They were half of each other but together they were whole. She felt bad knowing that Roxas was simply reduced to only being half a person, much like herself. But the silver lining was that if he returned to Sora, there was a chance he wouldn't have to vanish entirely. She wished she could tell him that. She wished there were a way for her to guide him down the right path rather than the destructive one intended by DiZ. If nothing else, she would have loved to have met a fellow Nobody like her...

That was when it hit her. There _was _a way.

Feeling her resolve harden, Naminé stood from her chair and walked over to the door, slowly opening it and wincing at the slight creak. She peeked out of the door to find DiZ and Riku in the middle of a conversation at the bottom of the steps in the main foyer.

"Things seem to be progressing most optimally," DiZ said. "As long as Naminé plays her part in continuing to chain together Sora's memories, we needn't worry. Roxas is still under the impression of blissful memories."

"Just don't let that confidence get to your head, DiZ," Riku said. "The data in your little simulation of this town is still made of real hearts. Never know what might end up happening."

"I have my contingencies."

The hooded Riku seemed to follow DiZ into the mansion's rusted dining room where they usually discussed matters in private. With the coast clear, Naminé carefully shut her door to mitigate any chances of being heard.

With the gesture of her hand, she was able to open a corridor of darkness. When she emerged from the other side, she was standing before Sora's pod once again. Her thoughts trailed back to Sora's time in Castle Oblivion when Vexen was able to create a card representing Twilight Town using the memories buried deep within the other side of his heart.

The other side...

Sora and Roxas's hearts were connected. If she could find a way to link them, perhaps she could traverse through hearts to reach Roxas? It was worth giving a try.

Naminé closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to focus on Sora's heart and felt his kindness, his fears, his doubts, and his frustrations. These feelings that were deep inside of him should lead her to Roxas.

Suddenly, her environment felt empty and cold. When she opened her eyes, she seemed to be in an empty space that was pitch black. Did she make it? If she had to make a guess, she must have been inside some sort of limbo within the program. Perhaps this was how the world looked when Roxas was asleep? The simulation seemed to completely halt.

"Who are you?" she heard, turning around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Despite its unfamiliarity, however, she had a hunch at whose it belonged to.

She did it. She made it to the other side. At the thought of her theory proving correct, she smiled gently.

Eventually, the pitch black dissolved into numbers and revealed where she really was: a room that seemed typical of a teenage boy with shelves of books lining the left side, a desk to the right with a star-shaped chair, and some sort of fish globe at the head of the bedrest.

Naminé then looked towards the boy sleeping peacefully in the bed, blissfully unaware of his surroundings. This was him—the boy who was connected to Sora. She resisted her urge to reach out to him. She wanted to tell him about everything; who he was, where he came from, and where he was meant to be. She knew it would be hard for him to understand at first, but she would be sure to let him know he wasn't alone in this.

After all, she knew what it felt like to be cast in someone else's shadow.

When Roxas began stirring out of his sleep and gradually sat up, Naminé was quick to manipulate the code of the program and disappear before he could see her. This wasn't the right time, not when she just woke up.

She decided to wait it out at the bottom of the slope on the Market Street.

Naminé tied her hands behind her back and began strolling through the digitized town. It was a somewhat eerie feeling—it was more akin to a ghost town that was a mere shell of the laid back but bustling nature of the real Twilight Town.

All that was left to do was to wait for Roxas and ease him into understanding his origins. She waited patiently for nearly fifteen minutes, her mind wandering about all the possibilities that could occur with her meeting Roxas. Maybe if this all went well, she could finally make a friend. Someone she could talk to and ease her loneliness while also having a commonality of being Nobodies. Perhaps she could lead him to the digital version of the old mansion? They could talk in the white room in private and—

She stopped and let out the slightest of gasps when she saw Roxas casually walking down the famous slope. It looked as if he was about to approach Olette and Pence. A tiny smile graced her lips as part of her was delighted to see him in relatively good spirits. It was good to know her sudden appearance in his room earlier hadn't freaked him out too much. Then again, Roxas had been having far weirder days than today.

"Hey," Roxas said, greeting who he perceived to be two of his best friends.

"Morning," Olette responded. Before she and Pence could take their next steps, Naminé waved her hand in a manner that would bend the code of the program DiZ had created in order to freeze time. Once that was done, Naminé simply continued her walk upwards the slope.

Roxas, on the other hand, was momentarily paralyzed. "Huh...?"

He mindlessly ran forward to see if Pence and Olette were okay before a girl in a white dress emerged from behind them. He quickly stopped himself in his tracks before he nearly fell into her.

Naminé didn't seem to mind that his face was contorted with confusion and simply greeted him in a calm, friendly manner. "Hello, Roxas."

"H... Hi..."

Naminé examined her surroundings and for a moment, she inwardly admitted that she was impressed with the level of detail that went into DiZ's simulation. Despite her knowledge of the situation at hand, the environment was convincing enough to make her momentarily forget knowing that it was only a simulation.

"And you are...?" Roxas began to ask before Naminé stopped him with a gesture of her hand.

"I wanted to meet you at least once," she said as she clasped her hands together.

"Me?" Roxas asked.

For so long, Naminé felt like her prolonged search for an identity to claim as her own was lost in a cavernous vacuum of wishful thoughts. But now, as she stood before him, she could cast away her perceived lack of individuality and find her own purpose—one that doesn't hinge on being the shadow of someone else. Without a heart, she couldn't be certain where this newfound resolve came from, but she knew she would find a way to guide him to where he belonged. And maybe, just maybe... they would find a way to meet again. Perhaps they would not appear as they were and the memories of their time together would be reduced to nothing more than a withering dream of lofty possibilities.

"_No, not goodbye! When I wake up, I'll find you. And then there will be no lies. We're gonna be friends for real." _

But they'd make another promise to keep. And with that, she smiled.

"Yes, you."


End file.
